Seton Medical Center Hays is investing $14.1 million to expand its obstetrics unit. The hospital is currently in the design phase, and construction is expected to be completed by 2019.

Seton Medical Center Hays delivers about 1,100 babies a year, according to Kate Henderson, regional president of four Seton hospitals including the one in Hays. “Adding onto the current building increases our baby delivering capacity to 1,800 babies a year,” she says. “We are doing this to keep up with the growth occurring in the San Marcos, Buda and Kyle areas.”

The growth in Hays County also compelled Seton Medical Center Hays to add a third neurosurgeon to its staff this summer, Henderson notes.

In 2017, the medical center advanced from a level IV trauma center to a level III trauma center. It is on track to become a level II trauma center by this fall.